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The Antares rocket set to launch from Virginia's spaceport to the ISS Nov. 15 is on the left, with the Cygnus cargo craft in the middle. On the right is the booster expected to launch in spring 2019. - Original Credit: NASA Wallops - Original Credit: NASA Wallops

Antares rocket to launch from Virginia next week

The Antares rocket set to launch from Virginia's spaceport to the ISS Nov. 15 is on the left, with the Cygnus cargo craft in the middle. On the right is the booster expected to launch in spring 2019. - Original Credit: NASA Wallops - Original Credit: NASA Wallops

Stardust, protein crystals, virtual reality, cement, recycled plastics – these are key components of a few of the science experiments set to launch from Virginia’s spaceport to the International Space Station next Thursday.

The idea behind these experiments is to advance our understanding of how the universe formed from stardust, the pathology of Parkinson’s disease, making and using concrete on celestial bodies, and the sustainable fabrication and repair of plastic materials on lengthy space missions.

The rocket is set to lift off at 4:49 a.m. on Nov. 15 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops Flight Facility. It will boost an unmanned Cygnus cargo craft bearing 7,500 pounds of groceries, hardware and research to space station crew.

The ISS is used as an orbiting laboratory to conduct cutting-edge research in a rare microgravity environment, and this latest mission is no exception.

“It provides a platform for us to think differently and to get at different kinds of questions,” Tara Ruttley, NASA’s associate chief scientist for microgravity research, told reporters Thursday.

“And to actually ask the bolder questions that are relevant to our scientific and technological advancement – particularly surrounding the future of human exploration. And also how we can best benefit our lives on Earth.”

Liz Warren, associate program scientist for the ISS’s National Lab, likens space station research to “looking at science through a new lens.”

“It enables discoveries and insights that were not possible on Earth, and for the benefit of all,” Warren said.

Zapping specially formulated “stardust” with an electrical current to study the shape and texture of the pellets that form. In this way, researchers hope to glean how stardust billions of years ago clumped into particles that eventually formed the celestial bodies that make up much of the universe.

Growing large crystals of a protein known as LRRK2, which is implicated in the development of Parkinson’s disease. Crystals can grow larger in microgravity, which is key because LRRK2 crystals grown in gravity are too small and compact to study.

“That’s why we’re unable to perform structure-based drug discoveries – because we don’t know what LRRK2 actually looks like,” said Marco Baptista with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is sponsoring the study.

This is the second attempt at the research. An attempt last year on a SpaceX mission failed to obtain crystals of high-enough resolution to be useful.

Astronauts will take part in a virtual reality study intended to see if humans can adapt to altered sensory input on long-duration space missions.

“Obviously, it’s very important for astronauts to be able to correctly judge distances and correctly judge their self-motion,” said Laurence Harris, principal investigator and a professor at York University in Toronto. “Any errors do represent a deficit and potential hazard in space.”

The hope is that the research will also be of general use on Earth for people with impaired navigation and orientation, such as those with Parkinson’s or damage to the inner ear, which governs balance and spatial orientation.

A device called a “Refabricator” will be aboard the ISS for the first time to recycle plastic waste materials into high-quality filament for 3D printers.

The goal is to eliminate the need to carry a large supply of printer feedstock on long-duration space missions, and instead recycle plastics for fabrication and repair.

The space station will also get a centrifuge to provide a variety of gravity environments to study how cement solidifies – a process that NASA says is far more complex than it sounds.

Together with a previous study on how cement solidifies in microgravity, NASA engineers expect to better grasp the microstructure and properties of cement to design safer, lightweight space habitats, as well as improve cement processing on Earth.

Finally, an experiment into gas separation membranes as thin as a human hair and made of particles of calcium-silicate could lead to more energy-efficient, durable and affordable technologies to remove carbon dioxide from waste gases, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“When you think about the ISS’s role for the future of establishing long-term human presence and infrastructures, these are the kinds of things you think about,” said Ruttley. “These are things we can do now to help develop the critical technologies to get further and further.”

NASA TV will live-stream the launch beginning at 4:15 a.m. at nasa.gov/nasatv

Visitors can also watch the launch in person from the NASA Wallops Visitor Center grounds and bleachers, located along Route 175 with a clear view of the launch pad. Visitors are urged to arrive three hours early for Antares launches.

Visitor Center hours for this launch event are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, and 1 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Nov. 15.

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Welcome to the discussion.

No name-calling, personal insults or threats. No attacks based on
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it's screaming. Stay on topic and under 1,500 characters. No
profanity or vulgarity. Stay G- or PG-rated.